Sirens died out in the white noise of the downpour, leaving in their wake a building's carcass. Dull smoke rose from the charred ceiling. The roaring inferno that had raged through the sleeping home moments before had failed in taking any life away with it. No-one was quite sure why everyone survived. Quick thinking? The rescue services? Some people had been seen running into the blaze in heroic compassion. Or was it brash idiocy? A young man, barely 14, had seen it all as his home burned. He knew that most people had fled shortly after entering. All but one.

His footsteps squished in the rain-slicked alleyway; shivering, hugging himself, clutching at warmth, he approached the only dull light that didn't come from high overhead. A brief glow. Small, barely moving embers. Rising and falling in brightness as if it breathed shallowly. Tired eyes looked upon the huddled figure as the troubled boy's feet halted and his arms and body stilled. The huddled figure drew himself up in a staggering unstable motion, as if a drunk, rising to what seemed a monstrous size with the glow of the soggy cigarette illuminating ill-looking features. Thick leather covered by smoking holes like pock-marks adorned the large man, who cradled a minute bundle from the rain. It seemed like it would not let up at all. The towering man acted like a shield. The boy's heartbeat rose.
"Kid. What's your name?"
"S-s-simon" the boy stuttered. Struck by fear but also by awe Simon couldn't tear his eyes from the gaze of the swaying shield in front of him. He looked like a scarecrow, but also like a bear...Simon could think of no way to fully describe the man he faced. His face was aged and aghast, the lines far deeper then they should have been. Yet this man's skin, his hair, many of his features betrayed to young Simon that perhaps this man was much younger then he first seemed.
"A good name. I like you, Simon" A smirk tugged at unshaven corners of mouth, smoke curling from the gap of teeth.
Simon had always been curiously brave. Or was it brash idiocy?
"Tell me your name"
"My name?"
"Everyone's got a name" Simon reasoned, simply.
"Heh. Can't fault you there, kid..."
The tall figure seemed to think. His eyes gaze wandered inward. Black-green iris appeared to blend into pupil.
"Xavier"
Simon nodded. Extending his hand with a weak bashful smile,
"Pleased to meet you"
"Likewise," Xavier spat out his cigarette, "I think this is yours"
Holding out the bundle to Simon, the boy sooned realised what the bundle was.
Swaythed in cloth was his youngest sibling, breathing silently

Simon had seen it all. Pulled from the fire by grown-up hands he was told to be grown-up brave and to stand a grown-up distance away from the fire by grown-ups in uniform. An so simple Simon stood, fighting the child-like urge to run in. Screaming reached his ears. His pulse raced. Crying babies and pleas for help swarmed serpentlike down from the windows. His blood boiled. Windows smashed. His heart stopped. Explosions were heard. His fear finally caught him. Then it happened.
Out of the blue a man wandered up. Wearing a leather jacket with a howling wolf adorning the back, the sauntering man clinked nonchalantly to the front door, opening it as if it were simply the door to his not burning house. A blast of fire sped into him, a fist angrily striking at intruders to the calamity. Crowds rushed forward, panic levels rose quickly. But the man had disappeared. For what seemed like an enternity fire-proof clad soldiers frantically assulted the fiery stronghold. Calming the blaze seemed impossible. Another window shattered but a figure dived out of it, holding onto small children. One strapped to his back, one held tighly in each arm. With a loud crack upon landing the man quickly removed the children adorning him and fearlessly dived straight back into the belly of the crimson beast. Over and over he would be flung forth in this manner, dragging each time another soul free before forcing his way back in. Only once did Simon catch his face in with his searching eyes. A grin spread wide across it, teeth bared like a feral beast. His eyes focused and ready, shining like diamonds, pierced through the flames. His wild, untamed hair flung away from his face, brow knotted in determination; this man was suicidally brave. Or suicidally stupid.
As the blaze came to an end, people still milled, hospitals administering care to children and adults, confusion reigning still. No-one but Simon saw the man limp away, clutching at himself as the rain began to fall. Simon felt relief, he felt pride, he felt thankful. And yet...

"Hey, Simon, don't you got, y'know, any parents?" Xavier asked
The lad shook his head
"We live in an orphanage"
Xavier looked shocked and taken aback before he burst out laughing, falling into a hacking cough
"You're shittin' me!" He croaked, "I actually saved orphans from a burning orphanage? That's...that's just way, WAY too cliche!"
Simon, confused, tilted his head and regarded the weird man who had saved the lives of his friends as said weird man composed himself. Xavier muttered about 'saintliness' and 'bullshit' when Simon remembered what he had been meaning to ask.
"Why did you save them? Why did you save us?"
Xavier let out a long ragged sigh as he slumped against the wall at the mouth of the alleyway. The sun would be rising soon. The rain began to calm and dissipate.
"Because I'm an addict"
"What?"
"I'll try to explain. I'm...I'm not exactly grea. At anything. But I don't get fear. I just don't understand how people can be afraid of things, I never am. I walk around and I watch people get into these dangerous situations, whether it be human fault or nature, who cares. Point is they act like, well, children. Panic 'nd cry 'nd run around. It pisses me off."
"So...?" Simon tried to wrangle some sense from Xavier
"So..." Xavier mused, scratching his neck, "So I hate seeing people throw thier lives away or live in fear and oppression and such, yeah? If they act like children then I'll treat them like the annoying brats they are. But, y'know..." He turned to the rising sun, his gaze softening and mouth relaxing into a worn smile,
"Kids need protecting. So I might as well do it. Now, I'm addicted to it"
Simon had wanted to rush in like tall Xavier had. He wasn't afraid...but he realised he was, at that time. Simon had felt simple relief and thankfulness but he'd also felt darker emotions watching Xavier limp away. He felt shame. He felt guilty. He felt jealous.
"There was nothing I could do..." Simon bowed his head, "Nothing at all. I was scared. I'm the eldest orphan and I can't even protect or help any of them. I feel useless. I'm not supposed ot get scared."
He felt a warm hand land upon his head, tilting his head up to stare into the gleaming eyes of his protector who grinned grandly at him.
"Rushing in like I did would've been stupid. You're no use to the people y'love dead, are you?"
"But..."
"Listen up!" The brash idiot yelled, turning dramatically into the yawning and waking sun. He raised his hand to it, palm open as if reaching for fruit from a tree.
"A man's spirit is unbreakable. Not fear, not pain, not anger or sadness can break true determination. The fact you felt fear after you wanted to help, not before, shows just how strong a heart you've got. This world is a huge place with millions upon millions of people-"
"Yeah, but the world could do without cowards like me"
"Wrong!" Xavier tore his jacket from his shoulders, crouching and placing it across Simon's smaller form, "Everyone deserves life, everyone deserves freedom, everyone deserves to be happy. If even one person disappears, it changes everything. I can't let people disappear before they've lived...truly lived."
The man stood up from he boy, turning away and walking out into the sunlight. Xavier called over his bared shoulders,
"If you can't believe in yourself, then believe in me. Believe in me, who believes in you"

Simon looked upon the bared back of his saviour. Knotted muscles shifted like sand with every step. A pair of wings adorned that strong back. The black ink that made them seemed natural, as though they belonged there. Simon couldn't help but smile. This man...
Simon and his brother had no family. Simon thought, admiring Xavier's tenacity in life, his fearlessness, ambition, compassion and complete lack of sense. He was even smitten by Xavier's bizarre dramatic speeches. Perhaps he could find a family with this man.

Tugging on the heavy leather jacket, Simon held his brother, now waking, and ran after Xavier into the shining golden sun. The sun brought light. It brought peace.
The sun would always remind him of the beginning of his life.